South African Brewer Uses Ads to Declare an All-Out War on Hipsters

We've reached peak hipster. And we've also reached peak anti-hipster. But South Africa's Garagista Beer Co. is barging ahead anyway with a campaign that positions the brand as absolutely not the right choice for the coolest people on earth.

Watch below as a bunch of unkempt cool white people battle each other with records, typewriters and bicycles for a taste of the brewery's limited-edition batch of suds. And also check out the onslaught of anti-hipster print ads the brand has put together.

Over at the brand's Facebook page (because having an actual Web page is so January 2014), it's clear that Garagista is pretty normcore about the whole thing. "In a world where some people care more about the craft beer image than the actual beer," it says, "we care about one thing—damn good beer." 

Cool. Now, can we make all the selfies go away?

Thanks from adweek. See the TV ad while you there.

Young Creative South Africa 2014 | A Video Interview with 10 Local Creatives

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Google Ventures On 8 Shortcuts For Better, Faster Design Research

GOOGLE VENTURES'S MICHAEL MARGOLIS IS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN EVER. HIS SECRET? SHORTCUTS.

I’ve been doing design and UX research for almost 24 years. In that time, I’ve learned a lot, and I hope I’ve gotten better at it over the years.

One thing is certain: I’m more productive now than when I first started. I’m not any smarter (just ask my co-workers). I’m not working more hours. So what’s my secret? Shortcuts. In the interest of helping you do more faster (and to compel you to share your own tricks), here are my favorite ways to cut corners, save time, and be more efficient when doing research.

1. Start at the end: What questions do you want to answer? 
Before you do any work on a research study, clarify what you want to get out of it. For example, would it be most useful to figure out:

• Can new customers understand and figure out how to use the product?
• What are customers’ existing workflow and pain points?
• What are pros/cons of competitive products?
• What are customers’ attitudes?
• How satisfied are existing customers with the product?
• How does new customers’ usage change over time?
• Which design performs better?

When you know which answers you’re after, it’s quicker to choose the most efficient way to find them--by picking an appropriate research method (survey, A/B test, literature review, usability interviews, site visits, etc.), and the right segment of customers to study.

Read further on the Fast Company website.

Why Drawing On The iPad Just Got Way Better

THANKS TO APPLE UNLOCKING THE IPAD'S POTENTIAL, FIFTYTHREE'S PENCIL WILL SOON GET EVEN BETTER.

Today, the iPad stylus takes another step away from stupid stick and closer to expressive artistic tool. FiftyThree's Pencil--a wooden stylus made for the impressive iPad sketching app Paper--will soon allow you to vary the width of your line as naturally as drawing with a real pencil or marker.

As the video shows, you simply tilt the tip of the Pencil to go from fine point to thick line while sketching on screen--just as you would with the real thing. In other words, digital drawing on the iPad can feel a step more intuitive than it has.

While the Paper app--also developed by FiftyThree--has some incredible algorithms inside that enable intuitive color mixing and for you to rest the palm of your hand on the screen as you draw, this update actually comes largely as courtesy of Apple. Amongst countless updates in iOS 8 is a powerful feature that most of us missed: The iPad’s touchscreen can now recognize objects of various size. So instead of treating a thumb or pinky as the same sized orb, it can accommodate the precision necessary for the Pencil’s tip to begin simulating the multitude of subtle thicknesses we’d find in any natural drawing tool.

If you already own a Pencil, there’s no need to buy anything new. Free software will update the feel of the hardware. Timing will coincide with the public release of iOS 8 in the Fall.

See more here.